Enviga -- Breakthrough Diet Drink Or Hoax?

MayorBob.

Posted to Legal on Wed Feb 07, 2007 at 07:05:55 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Enviga, the green tea beverage from Coca Cola and Nestle, was supposed to be a true breakthrough in beverages.  Due to its ingredients, digestion of the drink would make the body burn more calories than the drink contained.  How great is that - a beverage which not only slakes your thirst but helps you to take off unwanted pounds?  Why that would mean "negative calories" and end the need for weight watching or fad diets.  It would be great if it was true.  But one public health watchdog organization says Coke's and Nestle's claims are bogus and they've filed a complaint in federal court.

The rollout for Enviga has been ongoing for a few months; it began appearing on store shelves in New York and New Jersey late last year.  It will be appearing on store shelves nationally this month.  According to Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), the Coke/Nestle consortium which developed Enviga, the drink works because it contains twice as much of a green tea extract called EGCG than other green tea beverages.  EGCG has been shown to have promise beyond weight reduction, but the specific claims of BPW as to what impact Enviga might have on weight reduction is the issue here.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), they've tested the stuff and "Enviga is just a highly caffeinated and over-priced diet soda, and is exactly the kind of faddy, phony diet aid it claims not to be."  In its complaint (14 pg pdf doc), CSPI says that BPW chose New Jersey as a test market because "37 percent of its residents are overweight and 22 percent are obese."  It demands refunds and an injunction from "fraudulent marketing."  A spokesperson for BPW said that the companies will "energetically oppose this meritless lawsuit."  Not everyone is enamored of the CSPI.  Some call them the "food police" instead of a public watchdog and accuse them of not being  for "science in the public interest."  All of that aside, BPW might want to keep their legal team on the ready as Connecticut's attorney general has opened a probe into the matter.